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Oct. 29 Noah Syndergaard workout day interview

MLB.com

Q. Terry was talking about how you prepare for a game. I'm just wondering tomorrow, do you tune out all this World Series stuff and say, hey, almost like a regular season game and have that in your mind?

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: Yeah, you can't be too focused on it's a World Series game. When I started in L.A. I thought it was going to be a totally, completely different game. But in reality it's the same game, a little louder, a little bit different atmosphere. Travis is still sixty feet, six inches away and you still have to execute every single pitch.

Q. Terry was talking about how you prepare for a game. I'm just wondering tomorrow, do you tune out all this World Series stuff and say, hey, almost like a regular season game and have that in your mind?

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: Yeah, you can't be too focused on it's a World Series game. When I started in L.A. I thought it was going to be a totally, completely different game. But in reality it's the same game, a little louder, a little bit different atmosphere. Travis is still sixty feet, six inches away and you still have to execute every single pitch.

Q. Noah, obviously you have great stuff, and this is a hard team you're facing. They take pitches and fouls them off and takes pitches and makes you give into that. How do you equal that with your talent and the fact you want to challenge them, rather than go to your B stuff and try to surprise them?

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: I mean, obviously they're going against us with their strengths and their strength is how aggressive they are. I can't be too focused on that, because I still have to be able to pitch to my strengths. I was able to watch Matt, deGrom and see how they approach their hitters, and I saw how aggressive they were, and devised a game plan for myself.

Q. Most of the time this year you chose white and gray uniforms when you pitched rather than blue. What goes into your decisions, is it superstition, hot streaks, cold streaks?

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: I try not to pay too much attention to superstition, I just show up at the field every day, and the jersey is hanging in my locker, and that's the one that I wear. Superstitions are just simple distractions that distract you from the task at hand.

Q. Matt threw the lowest percentage of fastballs that he's ever thrown in a Major League game. You throw close to a hundred miles an hour. Do you sometimes have to say, forget what they are, and just do what you do best?

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: That's my main focus tomorrow night is being able to pitch to my strengths and be able to execute all my pitches and just focus on winning one pitch at a time.

Q. You spoke a little bit about the similarities between regular season and postseason, but people talk about postseason experience all the time. Just wondering what, if anything, you've noticed that is different and has the fact that you've done this now a couple of times changed any specific things you're doing on the mound?

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: Yeah, the only difference I have noticed so far is just the atmosphere. Everywhere we go the fans are electric. Each pitch is entirely crucial to the game and can be a huge factor in the outcome of the game. I've just got to be able to go out there and take it one pitch at a time and try to slow the game down as much as possible. If I do run into trouble to be able to slow the game down and not let the game speed up on me.

Q. You spoke about watching Matt and Jake pitch and getting a firsthand look at what these Royals do. Obviously the scouting report was what it is, and certainly it looks like they lived up to it. Is there anything that surprised you about watching the Royals up close and personal like that?

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: Yeah, from Game 1 with Harvey from the first pitch, you know how aggressive they are, but you don't really get a full grasp of how aggressive they can be, unless you fully experience it. I feel like being able to watch the past two games as really helped me out and helped me devise a game plan to go out there and approach them.

Q. If you guys don't win tomorrow night, you're in deep trouble, obviously. How much do you like the fact that it's kind of on you to save this World Series for the Mets?

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: I mean obviously we didn't plan this to happen to be down 0-2. Coming back home is a big thing for us. Having the Mets faithful behind us and the greatest fans in baseball. Part of the reason our team has had so much success this year is being to handle the resiliency and come together as a team, overcome and win some ballgames.

Q. You've talked about how you feel like a much different pitcher at this stage than you did even five months ago when you first came up. Terry has talked about how much you've learned in that time. What part of your repertoire, is there a particular pitch or approach on the mound that you've taken the greatest step forward?

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: Just as a starting pitcher, routines are crucial for our career, and going into the clubhouse each day and know exactly what you're supposed to be doing. The strength and conditioning stuff does an unbelievable job of keeping us healthy and keeping us feeling great on the field. And working with Dan has just been a huge joy. He's a pitching guru. He's the best I've ever worked with. I feel like he's really revamped my career and my status on the mound. The amount of confidence that I've gained throughout this entire season and the journey has been an unbelievable experience for me.

Q. We've been following the Royals continually mystified as each pitcher to start the game keeps throws strikes to Escobar, who has openly said that he will swing at anything that comes up there. Is that a pride thing for pitchers or something? I literally think you could throw the ball to the backstop and he might swing at it.

NOAH SYNDERGAARD: It's something else being able to watch Escobar walk up there and swing at the first pitch almost every single game. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I'll be able to break out tomorrow night. I'm looking forward to it.